Calcutta, Dec. 11: The woman apparently kidnapped off her fiance’s motorbike yesterday was found at Burrabazar this morning, sipping tea with her “real husband” and two of his friends.

Police today accused Mini Kanoria, 24, and Mohit Srivastava ' whom she apparently married in secret on November 22 ' of staging an abduction drama to prevent her family from marrying her off to Vikas Khaitan.

This, however, was followed by courtroom drama. Mini ' the vermilion visible on her forehead and in the parting of her hair ' disowned a letter produced by Mohit’s lawyer, allegedly written by her to Howrah police saying she had married Mohit and wanted to live with him.

Freed on a bail bond of Rs 500, she left Bankshal court for her parents’ home, leaving Mohit and his friends ' Devaki Nandan Bhojak alias Lala and Santosh Sharma ' to spend the next 12 days in jail custody. The police earlier told the court that Mini had acknowledged her marriage before them.

The breakthrough in the investigation had come around dawn when Lala rang up a policeman he knew, a sub-inspector with Beniapukur police station.

“Dada, you alone can save us,” he said, according to the police. “My friend had to rescue the woman he loves.” He then gave the address of the hideout in Kalakar Street, Posta. Within 45 minutes, the police were there.

“They had just woken up and were chatting over a cup of tea. The girl wore sindoor. They showed us the marriage certificate at the Hastings police station,” an officer said.

The police said Mini and Mohit, fellow tenants, had been in love for five years but her well-to-do family refused to let her marry the PCO owner from a different caste. To buy peace at home, Mini agreed to the engagement with hardware businessman Vikas two months ago ' and then married Mohit secretly at a registrar’s office.

It was about 2 pm when a sobbing Mini, wearing a red-and-black salwar kameez and red cardigan, stepped into the magistrate’s court. Her family’s team of lawyers crowded around her, talking busily.

As she sat in the back row, eyes downcast, Mohit ' in the court lock-up with his friends ' tried in vain to catch her eye.

Mohit’s lawyer produced the marriage certificate and the letter, addressed to the Howrah OC. Asked for her statement, Mini slowly walked up to the magistrate and, in a low voice, provided the day’s final twist.